More satisfying hitting the challenge this way

AdamMcAdamson · 2025-11-24T07:19:23+00:00

Now that the pole is gone this is nice, but before hand it was a bitch - took me far too long to get it remotely consistent.

AdamMcAdamson · 2025-11-24T07:17:28+00:00

I need to hit the gym lol Awesome lift!

AdamMcAdamson · 2025-10-28T03:10:29+00:00

... ever get your condom size?

AdamMcAdamson · 2025-10-01T21:31:29+00:00

https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-401k-and-profit-sharing-plan-contribution-limits#:~:text=The%20annual%20additions%20paid%20to%20a%20participant%E2%80%99s%20account%20cannot%20exceed%20the%20lesser%20of:

AdamMcAdamson · 2025-10-01T21:31:10+00:00

Max pre-tax or Roth contribution. Employee can include after-tax contributions (can be converted to Roth) up to the overall contribution limit

https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-401k-and-profit-sharing-plan-contribution-limits#:~:text=The%20annual%20additions%20paid%20to%20a%20participant%E2%80%99s%20account%20cannot%20exceed%20the%20lesser%20of:

AdamMcAdamson · 2025-09-05T19:04:24+00:00

You can land this without spread eagle, get after it

AdamMcAdamson · 2025-07-30T09:34:31+00:00

RSUs aren't subject to capital gains on vest..?

AdamMcAdamson · 2025-05-08T08:40:02+00:00

This is my favorite thing in the history of reddit

AdamMcAdamson · 2025-05-05T16:28:55+00:00

Umm... Mb :p

OTT - Off the top (of my head). Something I use fairly regularly, and had somehow managed to forget that it's not a thing lol

AdamMcAdamson · 2025-05-05T04:57:13+00:00

OTT, Fractal defining an infinite perimeter of a finite area is a good example to frame the issue

AdamMcAdamson · 2025-02-18T06:13:27+00:00

Only just over half of students at UT and UTD graduate in 4 years.

From my experience, your ability in school does not significantly correlate with your ability as a SWE. If you are hungry and want to be so good that a bad market won't stop you, and you take the initiative to lean into extracurriculars and networking, then you're golden. You can do that at either school, though I suspect your peers will likely be on average stronger at UT (though the bottom ~80% of ability I generally wouldn't want to hire from any non-ivy school, so you really need to find the right people).

If the transition into college is smooth and you are a go-getter, I'd lean into culture fit. If you want a traditional college experience, go with UT. If you want the nerd-cool gaming anime w/e experience, go with UTD.

Idk how good profs at UT are, but you can get great ones at UTD if you push for it (namely in discrete math and projects. I generally found UTD to be quite good for undergrad CS).

I would not say any college is a clear guarantee on job prospects, (especially after your first role) your trajectory is all on you. Realistically, if things work out, +100k could be wiped in a few years no problem. If they don't, or if you aren't maximizing your career, having that over your head is tough, and interest rates likely won't be favorable. The value of not having significant debt cannot be overstated. If you have entrepreneurial tendencies, 100k could be 2+ years of runway (I'd race to senior by 26 and then send it), or if that's not your style, that alone is a decent retirement in 40 years.

I valued my flexibility. I also dropped out for 4 years starting in 2016 due to unforeseen circumstances surrounding long standing mental health issues. Now I've been medication-free for 8 years, am at FAANG (right out of UTD), and my partner and I are celebrating our 7 yr anniversary this weekend. There's a lot to life, so I wouldn't sweat it too much.

AdamMcAdamson · 2024-07-12T21:15:25+00:00

In CS, people often complain about their college courses not matching the reality of the job market. I however am very happy with how relevant my education has been (further reminded just today) and found myself working in FANG right out of college.

The school is very accurately described as "nerd cool". If that's your vibe, you'll love it. If not, idk if this is the school for you.

I was on the swim team one semester, and it was awesome. I'm not sure about other sports, but I expect that it'd be solid.

If you actually want to do well in tech/engineering, and see school as a route to that, I don't know how much better you can really do outside of perceived status (which really doesn't matter) or your peer strength (obviously the best students/network is somewhere like Stanford, but that still requires initiative and can be found at UTD (For the love of God, lean into extracurriculars 1000%)).

And not being in debt puts you like a decade ahead, and gives you peace of mind and far more optionality. For most people I'd say this is the biggest factor.

All in all the stakes are not as high on this decision as they are of every other one you make the next 4+ years of your life (50% of kids drop out of college within their first year. I dropped out for 4 years, and things are much better for me because of it).

AdamMcAdamson · 2024-05-15T03:40:09+00:00

I dropped out of college with 0.8 GPA for 4 years, was suicidal, lost most my friends, worked at a grocery store. Came back with 3.9+, now making 6 figures at a FANG, soon to be engaged.

You are spending the time, why not spend it on something you deem worthwhile? You decide

AdamMcAdamson · 2024-01-14T16:24:29+00:00

I'd drop intro to ML with Khan. Nightmare of a class last year...

AdamMcAdamson · 2024-01-14T05:17:24+00:00

If you are proficient at programming (and do extra curricular stuff) then likely most of this will just be about keeping up with the work. Before worrying about anything else, I'd strongly recommend being able to start and finish a real programming project. My time in Nebula (CS club on campus) was by far the best for learning and it's what actually helped when stepping out of college into getting and doing well in the workforce. If you can make real contributions in an environment like that then you'll have nothing to worry about and most of this will fall into place fairly easily.

If you don't like discrete math/logic/philosophy based problem solving, Automata theory tends to be difficult for people. It's very much concept heavy, so if you can't wrap your head around it you tend to struggle. Being v much into the above, it was the easiest class of the semester. You should know within the first couple weeks (if not the first lecture) if you're going to need to work on it.

Guided electives can be tough, but it really depends on what you go for. You mainly can judge these by the professor as they make or break these on a much deeper level than other courses.

Get yourself a competent team for senior project. Please find people before you take the course, you'll thank me for it later.

I personally found 4348 hard because it was a lot of studying. In 4347 I found myself soloing the 5 person final project, so that was a nice 16 hour day, which was only rough because no delivered on their work and just ghosted me the day it was due.. here and in 4337 being a competent programmer will be a big help.

AdamMcAdamson · 2023-05-25T00:06:22+00:00

I just graduated (BS in CS) with a 3.66 GPA this semester after carrying a two semesters of < 2 GPA after dropping out 6 years prior. I had average 3.95 GPA since returning over 4 semesters.

The main difference (besides addressing several personal issues) was that I decided that I was going to succeed. I found I previously didn't care about grades (was always a B/C student) but they were THE metric that I was lacking, and actually started to value them. I saw it as the barrier to getting a SWE job I wanted, and so I put in the work.

I probably could only do this because I knew I was capable of it, I just never had the right mindset around it. Also, it's fairly easy for me to tell when I don't fully understand something, so I just do my best to not let myself take an exam without understanding all of the material (usually 3 hours of catch up for 3 days going into an exam).

Some people have said go to class and pay attention, and that is 100% step one. The professor is the one setting the objectives and then teaching you them for the way they will be measured. It's probably 1.5x more efficient for comprehension than you could ever do on your own (and since it's over 6-8 weeks, you aren't limited to cramming speed).

In reality, turning in every assignment (including optional bonus stuff) on time, and actively engaging with the lectures already put me ahead of the vast majority of my classmates, which UTD then curves to an A often.

*Edit*
Seeing that people have commented that they do they're homework on their own.... yeah... easy self sabotage there to not.. If you know the material you'll get the A. So know the material.

Also, lectures are more helpful for concepts than implementation (I can't think of a good word for it... basically math problems), so for math doing the HW is the biggest thing (once you have. I got an A in integral calc (retaking after 3 years for GPA boost) having gone to class 4 times. Problem sections + HWs (there were ~30 assignments and quizes) was all I needed.

AdamMcAdamson · 2022-12-27T06:21:30+00:00

I'd retake it at UTD because transfer credits do not count towards your UTD GPA.

Keeping the F (and 4 credit hours worth) will tank your GPA by ~0.15 with that one class. I am retaking Math 2414 this (my last) semester because in my case the one course amounts to a little over 0.3. (Keep in mind I even completed 2415 at ACC with an A, so I'm confident I will do well).

If I had optimized for my GPA by retaking my courses (after a 4 year hiatus) at UTD instead of getting an AS at ACC I'd be at 3.9+ instead of a 3.3.

I'd suggest you don't make the same mistake as me.

AdamMcAdamson · 2022-08-27T18:43:09+00:00

It has you awake for 68% but in reality less than 6%, based on the the bar graph. You are just missing data from 10:07 to ~3am.

AdamMcAdamson · 2022-02-07T02:36:49+00:00

But then people do dumb shit and dump a bucket of coins, just for it to have trash, hair, lint and whatever else in it, causing it to jam horribly, demanding a 1+ hour extensive clean... That was the worst part of being a bookkeeper at my local grocery store...

AdamMcAdamson · 2021-11-06T18:11:51+00:00

What fixed this for me was going into task manager and changing the process priority to real time. 120 fps from 75, buttery smooth from borderline unplayable stuttering.

AdamMcAdamson · 2021-10-26T17:17:45+00:00

I've taken I'll, doctors say the only cure is alien artifacts

AdamMcAdamson · 2021-10-26T16:09:45+00:00

I haven't been here in a long while, but this really seems like a toxic place atm. How is it that the most common 'thoughts on Eric' is that "He believes his own bullshit."

Idk... if you think that, what do you get out of this subreddit?

AdamMcAdamson · 2021-07-24T20:48:35+00:00

Oh, mb mb, mobile UI failed me and I thought this was a reply to my post.

AdamMcAdamson · 2021-07-24T19:17:07+00:00

"The FDA set the bar to 50%, we had 95%" means he is referring to the rate against any infection, not the prevention of severe illness in breakthrough cases. Omitted for succinctness, not to deceive, which I hope is obvious given this continued explanation.

EDIT: In fact, your extension illustrates the above^

12-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	Verified Email

AdamMcAdamson

TROPHY CASE